The Bree Letters
by Arwen Imladviel
Summary: A sequel to 'Red Lily' and a 'prequel' to 'Miss Niphredil Baggins'; the romance of Eowyn Brandybuck and her 'cousin' Marron.
1. Tangles

Usually, if I noticed two stories contradict each other, I would fix the newer one, but in this case I love Niphredil Baggins enough to let her and her story be as it is. Who? Please, please read it! 

**Letters from Bree**

A sequel to 'Red Lily' 

By Arwen Imladviel 

_One: Tangles_

Estella Brandybuck was brushing her daughter Eowyn's hair.  
'Honestly, dear, it seems to me you have more tangles than you have hair, if that is possible.'  
'I know. My hair looks like a bush of brambles.'  
'Maybe, but it is a very beautiful golden bush.'  
Eowyn was not convinced. She had looked in a mirror often enough to know no other maiden had hair like hers. Heir hair was long, but very curly, so that it looked short. She had tried braiding it, but the braids made terrible painful tangles and looked messy. Of course there were worse things in the world than bad hair. One of them was being almost as tall as one's father. And some things so terrible they could not really be mentioned even in thoughts. 

Eowyn's distant cousin, Kitty, bustled into the room.  
'My uncle brought the letters. There's one for you, Eowyn.'  
Estella peered over her daughter's shoulder and saw the address. 

"Eowyn of Brandy Hall,  
Bucklebury,  
Buckland" 

She sighed. Eowyn hated it when people called her by any other name than Brandybuck. True, she was adopted, but the adoption was official and final. She had been born the bastard child of Lily Maggot, true, but now she was the daughter of Meriadoc and Estella Brandybuck. 

Eowyn did not seem offended. Nor did she open the letter. It disappeared into the pocket of her apron. She picked the hairbrush and rushed into her room.  
Kitty and Estella stared at each other. They did not need to say the name on their mind. 

Marron Brandybuck. 


	2. The Address

_Two: The Address_

"Eowyn of Brandy Hall,  
Bucklebury,  
Buckland." 

To be precise, Brandy Hall was not _in_ Bucklebury, but the post office was, so letters were addressed there. 

And to be precise, Eowyn always made clear that her name was Brandybuck. Until now. She opened the letter with a finger, for she had lost her penknife again. The letter read: 

"August the seventeenth,  
Prancing Pony Inn,  
Bree Village 

To Eowyn, my dearest:  
I arrived here yesterday, safe and dry, for the rain started only after I got a roof over me. A high roof at that, for I chose to enter the famous Prancing Pony. The beer is good but I have been careful not to drink too much. I must make a good impression if I wish to get a job. One of the Big People offered me a position in his household, mainly herding goats and milking them, and looking after a few hens. But I have not decided yet, for his smallholding is near Archet where there are hardly any hobbits. I would prefer a job here at Bree, for the village looks splendid and the travellers interesting. Combe would also be all right, hobbit-sized as it is. I have even asked the innkeeper, Brandon of the famous Butterbur family, if there is any need for a helping hand right here. It would be ideal, but he hasn't decided yet. I think he is measuring me up to a standard. I have told everyone my name is Marron Maggot, just like Grandma Maggot advised. People have heard of Lily here, and I know some have connected me to her. I will not correct them, if they think her baby was a boy. Tell me if you would like me do otherwise. 

I miss you, as my dearest friend, as the one person I love. I send this message with anyone whom I can trust not to open the seal. Eowyn, if you can, write to me. I promise I will keep writing letters. I could never forget you. Although I write about living among hobbits, I have no intention of marrying a breelander. The medallion of Esmeralda Brandybuck will go with me to my grave, even if I never see you again. If so, it will be a lonely grave. 

Yours, with everlasting love  
Marron." 

Eowyn wiped her tears. Then she went to the oil lamp, took it down from its hook, lifted the glass, and slowly let the letter touch the fire. It burned, until the fire touched her fingers. Then it went out. There was ash on the table, and a tiny white corner of paper in her hand. She carefully replaced the lamp, wiped the ashes and carried them into the fireplace. Then she took the piece of paper and put it between the diary she kept under her mattress. She would remember the letter, word to word. To her grave. 


	3. The Diary

_Three: The Diary_

"Dear Mother. Once again I have told a lie. But I know you would approve. I dare not write the details, so I will only say: It is autumn. Yet spring will come.' 

Eowyn looked at the entry she had just written. She felt bad about the way she no longer trusted her family. It had begun when Eomer had revealed he had been spying on his sister, just for fun, and seen her kiss her cousin. On the mouth. A real, long kiss, a lover's kiss. 

Eowyn had always known she was adopted. She had been taken to the grave of her mother very often by her father, Meriadoc, who had loved Lily Maggot. When Eowyn had been twenty-two, her parents had told her the entire story. Lily Maggot had been raped by a human, and she had died in childbed. Yet she had loved the child those short moments she had held her. And she had _ordered_ Meriadoc Brandybuck to find himself a wife. 

Eowyn's secret was known by all the neighbours, but they tactfully avoided mentioning it. She had told it to all her childhood friends, most of them cousins. Marron was a first cousin. And named Brandybuck. Generally, Brandybucks did not marry Brandybucks, unless they were only very distantly related. Her father had made it very clear Marron had to leave his daughter alone. Eowyn's honour was not to be tainted. The neighbours had to see she was a respectable young hobbit maiden, and the family had to accept her as a true Brandybuck. 

Eowyn's tears and pleas had been to no avail. She was young, her father told her, only twenty-nine. She would fall in love several times yet, most likely. Eowyn had not believed a word of it. She browsed to the first pages of her diary; 

'Mother, I am half human. And humans have shorter lives. A human of my age would already have children. So why do they treat me as if I was an ordinary tweenager? I am not. Why can't I be myself? I was a silly tweenager, back when I was under twenty-two. But it's over now. This time my love is real.' 

Eowyn blushed and hid the diary again. Then she started brushing her hair, too roughly. It hurt. She pretended to herself she was crying only because it hurt to brush tangled hair too fast... 


	4. The Reply

Four: The Reply 

"September the twenty-fourth, 1449,Brandy Hall 

Dear cousin,  
I hope you are in good health. Have you found a job? Have you made new friends? I take it old Barliman Butterbur has passed away, since you do not mention meeting him. Dad sends his greetings to Brandon, and asks after Nob and Bob. Your mother sent you a letter, did you get it? She was a bit worried, I think. We are all more or less all right. Eomer is still himself, I mean irritating, but I can manage. I wonder what happens when he grows too big for me to beat. Mom is making me a new dress, yellow again. 

I leave most of the family news to your mother, she so loves telling them. But I will say that Kitty is engaged and that Tomkin has a son. Oh, and Elanor visited us last week. She cheered me up a bit. 

Yours truly,  
Eowyn Brandybuck'' 

'Well, mom, this is the last one I'm going to write. If you want me to change it, I'll just blot the words with ink.'  
'This is just fine - except, what do you mean Elanor cheered you up? Now he will think you were down.'  
'I was!'  
'But that is not how letters like this are written. Also, you should not say "more or less all right".'  
'I'm not going to lie to him. You should be satisfied I removed the "I miss you".  
'All right, now seal it.'  
Eowyn put the letter into the envelope and sealed it with her father's seal. The envelope she gave to her mother. She hoped Estella would not hold it against a light. Yesterday, she had opened the seams of an envelope and written on the inside, with very thin, watered ink, a secret message: 

'I love you. I miss you. I will come to you. As soon as I get the address where I can find you. Yours faithfully, Eowyn.' Then she had glued the seams back together. 


	5. Grandma

_Five: Grandma_

"March the 23rd, 1450 

Dear grand-daughter,  
There are some things I think your mother would have wanted you to have. Could you visit me and the children? You would see Tomkin's and Bluebell's youngest baby, too. They call him Buddy, but I hope they are going to think up a better name to be put into the books. 

The lilies are in bloom. 

With love,  
your own Grandma Maggot." 

_What things?_ thought Eowyn. Her mother had been a farmer's daughter and died unmarried, she surely hadn't owned much. Besides, Eowyn already had some mementos: letters, a pocket mirror, to say nothing of the completely unused linens, locked in a bridal chest that was never needed, and embroidered with L.B. for Lily Brandybuck, a woman who never was. And the locket, originally a gift from Meriadoc to his first love, now, a secret memento that had followed Marron into his exile. Was there something more? A diary? Did Grandma still keep the famous red dress somewhere, and could it possibly fit Eowyn? "The lilies are in bloom." Over the years Grandma had collected all possible kinds of lilies in her flower-garden, so that they bloomed early and late. If snow was not on the ground, the lilies were likely to be in bloom in her garden. The other Maggot children were all alive: Tomkin, the heir, Rose and Daisy, Matt, Will and Cal. So of course the widow matron would love most the one long lost; Lily of the tragic fate. Tomkin had a half dozen 'babies' already (Grandma called her grown children 'children' and their offspring 'babies', after the logic that she was not old yet...) but Eowyn would always be her special favourite. 

Her father did not object to the visit; in this respect her adoption was incomplete, so she had actually had three pairs of grandparents as a child (the Brandybuck ones had now passed away), and they all had doted on her: The Bolgers because she was their eldest grandchild, the Brandybucks because she was their only grand-daughter, the Maggots because she was all that was left of their darling Lily. On the last day of March, Eowyn took the ferry to East Farthing, where Tomkin waited with the cart. 

'And how is our Princess?' Uncle Tommy had named her this after hearing Merry's story of Éowyn of Rohan.  
'Fine, how is Bombadil?' Eowyn in turn had always insisted that Old Maggot had named his heir after his ancient friend.  
'Bet you can't remember the names of all my little ones!'  
'Let's see... Rosemary, Tim, Galahad and Galadrella*, Tamlin... and Buddy.'  
'Wrong! We put the baby in the books as Gimli.'  
'Gimli?! Misspelling Galadriel is one thing, but giving your baby a dwarven name is another!'  
'Grandma loved it.'  
'I bet she did, after you frightened her with "Buddy".' __________________________________________________ 

*Elven-style names were in fashion in the Shire after Merry, Sam and Pippin shared their experiences and Bilbo's translations from elvish were spread out. (By the way, do not be offended if your name happens to be Buddy. Eowyn and her grandma dislike it because it is not traditional, and because Rosebud is a girl's name.) 


	6. The Surprise

_Six: The Surprise_

When they arrived to the farm, Grandma was waiting in her rocking-chair in her bedchamber, which had been Lily's once. She poured tea for Eowyn and offered her cookies still warm from the oven. When Bluebell came into the doorway, she sent her away. 

'You are the very image of your mother, Eowyn. And your difficulties are not entirely unlike hers, either.'  
'Grandma?'  
'I am referring to a letter I received a week ago. Let me read it to you.' 

She took a folded paper from the table, and began: 

"Dear Grandma Maggot,  
I cannot say how grateful I am for everything you have done for me, especially lending me your name. Enclosed here is a letter to my cousin Eowyn. Her family reads her letters and dictates her replies, so I have to ask you to deliver this to her. With love, Marron." 

'Here is your letter. I have not opened it.' 

With trembling hands, Eowyn took the sealed piece of paper from her grandmother's hand. It read: 

"March the fifth, 1450  
Prancing Pony Inn  
Bree Village 

Dearest Eowyn,  
I beg you to forgive me my foolishness. I did not notice the hidden message until today. I was reading your letter for the hundredth time or so, this time outdoors, when I saw the faint writing. How my heart leaped! 

I am here again. When I read the cruel letter they made you write, I took the job at Archet. I never wanted to see a hobbit's face, unless it were yours. All those messages to my mother and other relatives... if they let you read them, you must have noticed how hard it was, trying not to break any more hearts. My mother always had a frail one. 

I now begged to work here, and Brandon finally said yes. At first I will get no pay, only food and lodging. The room is not my own, another lad sleeps there too. He is a human, named Willem. He says he often slept in the hayloft back home, and would not mind doing so again if I got married - Will you marry me, Eowyn? I am a poor man now. 

I will send this letter to Grandma Maggot. I trust her to send it to you disguised as a letter from her. I hope someone will be going to Shire soon... 

With love and kisses,  
Marron Maggot" 

'Oh, thank you ever so much, Grandma!'  
'I've always said that with a family, it all comes down to blood. Your name ought to be Maggot, by rights it should.'  
'Please, Grandma..'  
'Even if it's going to be Mrs Marron Maggot. If the Master can adopt you then why can't I adopt the nephew he has denounced?'  
'He isn't just denounced. He's exiled.'  
'What?'  
'Dad put it in writing. Marron Brandybuck cannot enter Buckland until he is married. He could have gone to any of the four farthings, but Dad mentioned that if he does so, I in turn cannot leave Buckland at all. So he went east. He did not want to make me a prisoner, and kept away from you. His mother's heart is near breaking, and she keeps pleading to her brother. But you know my Dad. The Magnificent Moron, I say!'  
'Eowyn! Whatever he does, he's your father and your master.'  
'I'd rather be a bastard!'  
'It was Lily's last wish.'  
'If she could see me now, she would agree!'  
'Perhaps, perhaps not. It is true Master Meriadoc has changed, but he always was one for sensibility and decency. What does Estella say?'  
'She keeps reminding me how Marron was like a brother to me when we were kids, and how I'm older than I am, sort of, because I'm half human. Too old for Marron.' 

Eowyn looked at the letter again.  
'Who brought this?'  
'Someone Tomkin met by change. A very old acquaintance, he said. Old Tom, or something like that.'  
'You don't think...?'  
'Oh! It could be, it could. Would be the third time after your Grandpa died.'  
They stared out the window in a shared silence. Both were thinking about a name that had become only a story, only a dim memory. 

Bombadil. 


	7. Woman to Woman

Author's note: This chapter is chapter six of 'Miss Niphredil Baggins' and chapter seven of 'The Bree Letters'.  
After this, the two stories become one and continue as 'Miss Niphredil Baggins'. Next chapter is number seven.  
'The Bree Letters' illuminates Eowyn and Marron's romance, but is not very plot-important.  
Despite the title these two have much attention also in 'MNB'.  
To make it even more complicated, both 'MNB' and 'TBL' are sequels...  
Thanks for reading boring note.  


**Six: Woman to Woman**

_Seven: Woman to Woman_

Eowyn was baby-sitting two of her smaller cousins, Ginny and Glorry (whose real names were Guinevere and Glorfindel). She was thinking about the visitor. 

The woman had come in the morning, clad in breeches like a man, carrying a threateningly large bow on her shoulder. She had introduced herself Niphredil Baggins, and Eowyn's father had recognized the family semblance. 

But Eowyn was not thinking about Frodo Baggins, nor the wonders of the South, nor anything else the visitor had told them about. She was thinking: She came trough Bree and said there was no hobbit waiter at the Pony. 

As if on cue, Niphredil entered Eowyn's room.  
'Can you send these two to their mother? I'd like to talk.'  
'I can talk too!' said Ginny.  
'I bet you can, dearie. That's exactly why you have to go - we will talk secrets.'  
'Glorry, take Ginny and go find your aunt Estella.' 

After the kids had gone, Niphredil smiled warmly and sat on Eowyn's bed.  
'I have met Éowyn of Rohan, and I must say there is a semblance. She is older, of course.'  
Eowyn found no words.  
'I have something for you.'  
Niphredil fished an envelope from her pocket.  
'Someone sent you a letter in Bree, and he had me promise I will give it only to you or to anyone of the Maggot family to deliver to their matron.'  


Eowyn took the envelope, but did not open it. 

'Do you want to read it alone?'  
'Can I trust you?'  
'You can trust me after the sun goes dark and the moon falls, you can trust me after the sea has dried and the land twisted.' 

Eowyn read the letter: 

"August the third, 29 Fourth Age  
Prancing Pony Inn 

Dearest Eowyn, In my last letter I told you to follow your grandmother's suggestion and start the preparations for our home.  
Things have changed - for the better. The woman bringing this letter, Niphredil Baggins, had given us a wedding gift beforehand - and I have used it to buy a hobbit-house for us. The previous owner has already moved away, leaving some furniture that was too heavy to be moved, so that we have a featherbed, a large table with bolted-in benches, a wardrobe and one rather worn armchair. We still need the small bits and pieces, although I will buy some as soon as I decide what is most necessary. You may come as soon as you can, and if escape is still the plan, Niphredil will help you. But it seems she has other plans, too. Thank her once more for me! 

Yours, Marron" 

'Oh, thank you! We don't even know you!' 'I think the Queen Arwen would be glad to hear her money so well used, and I think your mother would want you happily married, may decency rot if need be!'  
Eowyn hugged Niphredil tight.  
'Your father, by the way, thinks I'm trying to persuade you change your mind. What shall I tell him?'  
'Tell him... hmm, that I cannot think of anyone else to marry me, and does he want me to become an old maid?'  
'Very good. All true, yet preparing for the escape - if need be.'  
'These other plans of yours...'  
'I suggested some to Merry, but he refused to accept any, not outright at least. What does your mother think?'  
'Estella? I never call her "mother". She is the worst. I used to love her, but now I can't.'  
'I think I could use the Mayor against Merry. Would it work?'  
'Oh, Master Samwise would never dare to disagree with his old friend!'  
'Not even if Frodo's daughter asked him?'  
'Not even then, I fear.'  
'I still think I should try. Does he know about this business?' 'No.'  
'That will be an advantage. What about the Thain?'  
'He knows, and agrees with my father.'  
'Do you have any friends in Hobbiton?'  
'One, the Mayor's eldest daughter. Elanor. She visited me recently, but I did not dare tell her much.'  
'Elanor. Star of the Sun. Elanor, flower of Lórien. Elanor, named by my father...' 

'Elanor.'  
Eowyn gasped: she had heard a male voice, but there was no-one else in the room.  
The voice continued:  
'Elanor the Fair, who outshines Niphredil of the Bow. Who holds both your fates in her hands. One change you only have, Shadow of Lúthien.'  
'Quetondo? You speak to me again!'  
Niphredil opened a pouch on her belt and took out a glistening white jewel. It seemed to Eowyn that the smokelike patterns inside it moved, but she thought it must be a trick of the light.  
'Eowyn, meet Quetondo. He is a jewel-spirit, from beneath mountains that no longer are.'  
Eowyn found herself greeting a stone, and got a polite but strange reply:  
'Well met, daughter of sorrow, mother of the morningstar!'  
'What?'  
'I think we have heard a prophecy.' Niphredil grinned.  
'Quetondo likes to give new names to people. I think my mother taught him that. He's never called me Shadow of Lúthien before.' 

They talked of many things, after that, until the dinner bell was heard. 


End file.
